Fires initiated by smoldering cigarettes under a variety of circumstances, such as inadvertently being left in overstuffed furniture and unknowingly dropped into bedding, continues to take its toll in the loss of human lives and the destruction of property. The smoldering mechanism is believed to be significant to the catastrophic consequences in that it involves a time-lapse during which there appears to be no eventual problem and concomitantly provides a feeling of false security. This invention is related directly to the probability-of-occurrence aspect in that it reduces the free burning time of a "live" cigarette when left unattended, and thereby reduces the time period for smoldering to occur. In this invention there is cognizance of the requirements of an acceptable behavior of the treated cigarettes during smoking, and the avoidance of increase in the toxicity and health-related factors of the by-products of combustion. By the selection of certain additives to cigarettes, there should not necessarily be a conflict between providing for increased fire-protection safety and conformity in characteristics during normal usage.